Jul142017

Press release: Fundraising training programme for small charities now open

HM Government

Charities can sign up for a range of free and low cost training opportunities through our small charities fundraising training programme.

Following a competitive tender process, we have selected the Foundation for Social Improvement (FSI) to run the programme in partnership with the Small Charities Coalition, Localgiving and the Charities Finance Group.

They will provide training opportunities for small charities, from face-to-face training, to intensive one-to-one advice sessions, skilled volunteering matches and webinars. These will cover topics including:

  • developing a fundraising strategy
  • fundraising from trusts and foundations
  • developing corporate relationships
  • crowdfunding and online fundraising

The first year’s training programme has been announced, comprising of the following opportunities:

  • face-to-face training
  • face-to-face workshops
  • telephone advice sessions
  • 30 minute and 1.5 hour webinars
  • a Small Charity Fundraising Conference in Leeds
  • a skilled volunteering mentoring programme
  • bursaries to the FSI’s Fundraising Award Qualification which will be running throughout the year

Providers will also develop and share fundraising training resources and toolkits to support small charities who might not be able to attend training.

Find out more and sign up

Jul142017

Funding for Manufacturing Institute to drive up GVA by up to £4 billion

Welsh Government

The new institute will have a strong focus on advanced manufacturing sectors including aerospace, automotive, nuclear and food.

It will deliver game-changing support to key manufacturing companies as well as multi-sector supply chain companies and the broader SMEs economy, and  is geared to increase productivity, commercialisation, innovation and skills development.

The new institute is expected to drive a thriving competitive industry base  which in turn will act as a  catalyst for growth and jobs across the supply chain in Deeside, North Wales, the Northern Powerhouse and further afield.

The first phase on the institute is expected to be up and running by 2020 and will build on existing infrastructure already in action such as Coleg Cambria University Centre.

The funding agreed will seek work beginning  on the full design and specification of two separate  facilities on at Broughton and once close to the Deeside Industrial Park. Airbus are confirmed as the first member at the Broughton site.

Ken Skates said:

“I am absolutely committed to delivering on my pledge to establish a  £20m  Wales Advanced Manufacturing Research Institute in Deeside which will focus on increasing commercialisation, training and productivity.  

“If we are to continue to compete globally Welsh industry must remain competitive and this means adapting to modern techniques and understanding the potential opportunities offered by collaboration and changes in economy for example the  fourth industrial revolution.

“The new institute will very much support these ambitions and I am genuinely excited by the  impact it could have.

“The centre will be ideally designed and located to deliver benefits for Wales and to maximise opportunities associated with the Northern Powerhouse. Indeed external experts have predicted that, dependant on external economic conditions, GVA could increase by as much as £4bn, an impact that could be absolutely transformational to the economy of North Wales and our country more widely.”

The Institute has been developed by the Deeside Enterprise Zone Advisory Board, with detailed input from, Swansea University AMRC  Sheffield, Airbus  and Coleg Cambria in conjunction with SMEs and large companies.

Jul142017

News story: Ensure that recladding work meets building regulations advises expert panel

HM Government

The Department for Communities and Local Government has written to all building control bodies in England highlighting key Building Regulations requirements when cladding work on high rise buildings over 18 metres tall is undertaken.

This followed advice from the Independent Expert Advisory Panel whose members were particularly concerned that further risks are not created in any new works undertaken by building owners.

At their third meeting the Independent Expert Advisory Panel recommended that it would be wise to draw attention to the need to ensure that any recladding work complies with all relevant Building Regulations’ requirements. In particular requirements on structural safety, resistance to moisture penetration and build up, and energy efficiency need to be considered – as well as ensuring that the fire safety requirements are met.

Building control bodies are responsible for checking that work complies with Building Regulations’ requirements. It is the responsibility of those carrying out the work to ensure that the provisions of the regulations are fully met.

The advice from the Department has been sent to all building control bodies in England including local authorities building control departments and private sector Approved Inspectors. It sets out the Department’s view that if building owners consider that they need to re-clad their building, for example following the results of recent screening for identification of the type of ACM cladding in use, this should be considered as building work and therefore subject to Building Regulations’ requirements.

The letter particularly draws the attention of building control bodies to the following:

  • Approaches to demonstrating compliance with fire safety requirements, for example ensuring that cladding and insulation used are of limited combustibility or that a whole wall cladding system BS 8414 test is undertaken. The British Standard 8414 requires that a wall with a complete cladding system – including panels and insulation – fixed to it, is then subject it to a fire that replicates a severe fire in a flat breaking out of a window and whether it then spread up the outside wall.

  • Where panels are removed for inspection or testing purposes, the integrity of the whole cladding system needs to be maintained.

  • The structural design of any replacement cladding needs to be checked – it should not be assumed that existing fixings and systems are suitable for replacement systems.

  • The need to ensure that replacement cladding systems or components protect the building adequately from rain and condensation.

  • Guidance on how to meet energy efficiency requirements when recladding.

Read the letter to building control bodies on recladding of tall buildings

Jul142017

Coach building company fined after an apprentice fell from height

HSE

A Warrington based coach fabricator has appeared in court after an apprentice suffered serious injuries when he fell through a roof he was working on.

The 25 year old worker from Orford, who has asked not to be named, suffered three fractured ribs and a ruptured spleen as a result of the incident on 14 April 2016.

Liverpool Magistrates’ Court heard the worker was assisting other employees with cleaning of the valley gutters on the workshop roof in Hardwick, Warrington when he stepped back onto a fragile skylight, falling 30 feet to the floor below where his fall was broken by a table.

An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found that Bespoke Bodies Ltd had not properly supervised this work at height activity; it was also found the company failed to identify the risks associated with working at height and working on fragile surfaces.

Bespoke Bodies Ltd of Grange Hardwick, Warrington pleaded guilty to breaches of Regulation 3 (1) (a) of the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 and Section 2 (1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974, and has been fined £20,000 and ordered to pay costs of £3339.

Speaking after the hearing HSE Inspector Lianne Farrington said: “Falls from height remain one of the most common causes of work related injuries and the risks with working at height are well known.

“Those in control of work have a responsibility to devise safe methods of working and to provide the necessary instruction and training to their workers.”

Notes to Editors:

  1. The Health and Safety Executive is Britain’s national regulator for workplace health and safety. It aims to reduce work-related death, injury and ill health. It does so through research, information and advice, promoting training, new or revised regulations and codes of practice, and working with local authority partners by inspection, investigation and enforcement hse.gov.uk
  2. More about the legislation referred to in this case can be found at: legislation.gov.uk/
  3. Further HSE news releases are available at press.hse.gov.uk
  4. For further information on working at height please visit: http://www.hse.gov.uk/work-at-height/index.htm

Journalists should approach HSE press office with any queries on regional press releases.

Jul142017

Labour’s five-point plan to eradicate working poverty

Scottish Labour

This week marked 15 years since a Labour government introduced tax credits. They have lifted millions out of poverty across Britain and they are one our proudest achievements.

But after nearly a decade of Tory and SNP austerity, there remains much more to do to tackle poverty.

Working poverty in Scotland is at its highest point since devolution, with the number of households increasing by 150,000 since the SNP came to power to 420,000.

The Scottish Parliament was meant to protect working people from Tory cuts, yet the SNP has turned it into a conveyor belt for Tory austerity.

Scottish Labour would do things differently. Today we are launching a five-point plan to eradicate working poverty as part of our fight to create a country that works for the many, not the few.

 

 


Increase the minimum wage to £10 per hour

Scotland needs a pay rise.

Employers are getting away with paying low wages, which means there are so many people in working poverty in Britain.

We would end the scandal of low pay in this country by creating a Real Living Wage of £10 per hour by 2020, ensuring everyone gets a fair day’s pay for a fair day’s work.

 


Ban zero-hour contracts

In Scotland, there are more people in insecure work than ever under the SNP. 

Hundreds of thousands who wake up not knowing if they will be going to work in any given day, and therefore not knowing what will be in their pay packet at the end each month.

A Labour government would abolish zero-hour contracts, giving stability to those workers.

 


Scrap the council tax

The SNP promised to scrap the unfair council tax back in 2007. Ten years on, all the Nationalists are proposing is to scrap the council tax freeze.

In 2007, Nicola Sturgeon said: The “hated Council Tax is totally unfair, and any tinkering with bands would not make the system any fairer…”

A decade on from promising to scrap the council tax all the SNP is proposing to do now is to scrap the council tax freeze. That isn’t big enough or bold enough. Scottish Labour would abolish the council tax completely, and replace it with a fairer property based system which would see 80 per cent of households pay less.

 


Use the powers of the Scottish Parliament to increase the number of people receiving their tax credits

Tax credits have lifted millions out of poverty.

Yet more than 100,000 Scots don’t claim what they are entitled to, with £428 million in working tax credit and child tax credit left unclaimed.

Labour will put a legal duty on Scotland's new social security agency to ensure everyone gets what they are entitled to.

 

 

Invest in education to prepare our workforce for the jobs of the future

We have to ensure we invest in education to prepare Scotland for the jobs of the future.

Research previously released by Scottish Labour has shown that Labour’s plan to invest in education and deliver a more skilled workforce could mean £2billion more in Scottish GDP and hundreds of millions more in additional tax revenue.

 

Do you want to help build a Scotland that works for the many, not the few? Join us here: https://scotlandjoin.labour.org.uk/